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Thursday, December 24, 2020

A Muslims Christmas survival guide

 

(Photo credit: Mustafa Davis -used with permission)


Muslims who live in non Muslim countries have a few issues to deal with at Christmas. First of all we should respect the religious traditions of all religions whether we like what they are doing or not. 
 
Each religious tradition has praiseworthy points and to deny that is not seeing the facts. So respect means we do not belittle others for their traditions or practices. This goes back to the hadith in which the Prophet (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) told people not to curse their own father. How does one curse ones father? By cursing another person’s father. 
 
By cursing other religious traditions one opens oneself to cursing of Islam. So many of us do not understand this point. The Prophet (may Allah bestow upon him peace and blessings) was accused of cursing idols but he was free from such actions because that was not in his character to harm people. 


Gifts and ties

 
Maintaining family ties are important and very difficult now. As I am sure you all know. So a new Muslim should realise it will be hard for relatives to see a change in their child or sibling. So refusing gifts or cards might upset them more. So accept the gift on the pretext it is sunnah and maintain the ties. But give gifts in a different way. Like after crimbo or in the new year! 
 
You can go to the family meal as long as you eat the lawful and stay away from wine and even sitting on a table that is serving wine. There is a specific hadith about not sitting on a table serving wine. 
 
For a born Muslim attending or making a Christmas party is sinful because there is no dispensation of maintaining family ties like the new Muslim. This form of imitation is blameworthy. 
 

Is Christmas actually a Christian celebration?

 
There are other traditions who used to have a winter celebration of some sort in there culture. There was the winter solstice and the sacrifice of the lamb of god are such beliefs. When Christianity came into Europe it was unable to remove these practices and thus 'christianised' them, for want of a better word.
 
In times gone by what religion one was, was a source of pride and used to a tool to scorn others. This is not true in the west now. As religion has ceased to be a motivating factor in many peoples lives. 
 
Although there are pockets here and there who cling fast to traditional forms of Christianity. Most keep it quiet from their own coworkers. So now money is the main cause of pride and that’s what we throw in peoples faces. In scant disregard to their mental health or even their own emotions. Not all Christian groups are the same and this should be noted.

Some Christians have Christmas on a different day and not 25th December, as they use different  calendars. What we do in the public sphere reflects on what we do at home. So to say merry Christmas one could assume they were Christian too. But now it does not seem to be the case because someone could just be replying to others who said it. Now the books of belief are every  strict about this and say anyone who does say greeting according to other religions has caused themselves to be disbelievers. Based on the hadith, "he who resembles a people is one of them.” 
 
These opinions were given about Muslims in Muslim countries and not Muslims in non Muslim countries, so a modernists false argument is that you can say it. We have to bear in mind that is best not to reply with merry Christmas but return it with best wishes or have a good break or good time. Or some type of reply that returns their goodwill and this is important. There is a sin attached to it but it could argued that disbelief does not occur for two reasons. Most people are not aware that it is forbidden and its religious significance does not remain in this time. 
 
There are many good people from other religions who want to help Muslims, so we should return their goodwill with goodness and when eid comes give them something. Most people do not make Eid in a better way than crimbo.
Instead they make eid boring and dull. 
 
There is still a sin [in saying merry Christmas] there which could cause it to be highly disliked but in non Muslim countries, saying merry Christmas does not hold the same significance that it once did. But the best way to avoid the sin is not to say it.

 

Jesus upon him peace 

 
Is one of the five great Prophets and it is an obligation to respect them all. We should never disrespect any prophet because of the actions of his followers. We honour all prophets and messengers upon them all peace. We do not believe that he was born in winter because the rutub form of date that Maryam (upon her peace) only come to fruition during summertime. See Quranic surah 19 about the birth for more details.   
 
For us to say that we should be happy about Jesus’s birth. Is a true statement but he was not born on Christmas. The day and even the year is disputed. 
 
There are a few books to read about Jesus Muhammad attars book. Also Mysteries of Jesus by Ruqayah Waris Maqsood is an excellent work on this matter.


Santa

We have to explain to children that Santa is not real and that we should not celebrate Christmas. Some parents used to give gifts to their children and when one child said 'I wonder what santa has brought us tomorrow.' One parent retorted, 'santa did not bring you those presents, I did.' Then after a long night of wanting to see how a fat old man could fit down a chimney, they realized no one came during the night. Of course the treats were left uneaten and this was a cause of much dismay. 
 
Explain to children that this is not our way but we respect other traditions. Children should get more stuff for Eid and not get things for Christmas. Most children are spoiled and giving them more technology is like throwing them in the bin!

Most of all we have to realise we need to be part of the western world without losing our own heritage and traditional Islamic world view. When we respect others then they will respect our religion  and this will bring us closer. We will then realise that we are not that far apart.